I wonder if our mayor has a memory problem. Did he perhaps forget that there was a grant to fix the Mendel Art Gallery, which would have left the city with a smaller debt? Instead the city gets a larger grant and a bigger debt. Smart?

The future will reveal that this would have been the time Saskatoon could have had a secure financial future; but instead this will be looked at as the time the city's economy and essential services were destroyed in the name of progress. No one suggests that we should not expand. But it must be done in an orderly, cautious manner that does not destroy our quality of life. This council has done more to put a wedge between different economic groups than any other before it.

We need a solution: The mayor and councillors should cut their civic salaries by 50 per cent, thereby making up for some of their foolish blunders; senior staff at City Hall should have their salaries cut by 10 per cent because they, too, bear some of the responsibility. Further, let’s slow down and play catch up. Finish what is started and give the beleaguered taxpayers a break.

Perhaps when we go back to the ballot box in October we can rescue ourselves.